"There is a singular evil here under the sun which I have seen: a man hoards wealth to his own hurt... all his toil produces nothing which he can take away with him... all his days are overshadowed: gnawing anxiety and great vexation are his lot, sickness and resentment." (From Eccles 5:13-17 NEB)

VEXATION AND EMPTINESS.
"What reward has a man for all his labour, his scheming, and his toil here under the sun? All his life long his business is pain and vexation to him; even at night his mind knows no rest. This too is emptiness." (Eccles 2:22,23 NEB).

"Here again, I saw emptiness under the sun: a lonely man without a friend, without son or brother, toiling endlessly yet never satisfied with his wealth -- 'For whom', he asks, 'am I toiling and denying myself the good things of life?' This too is emptiness". (Eccles 4:7,8 NEB).

"The man who loves money can never have enough, and the man who is in love with great wealth enjoys no return from it. When riches multiply, so do those who live off them; and what advantage has the owner, except to look at them?" (Eccles 5:10,11 NEB).

"We brought nothing into the world; for that matter we cannot take anything with us when we leave, but if we have food and covering we may rest content. Those who want to be rich fall into temptations and snares and many foolish harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and perdition. The love of money is the root of all evil things, and there are some who in reaching for it have wandered from the faith and spiked themselves on many thorny griefs." (1 Tim 6:7-10 NEB).

"A good man leaves an inheritance to his descendants, but the sinner's hoard passes to the righteous." (Prov 13:22 NEB).

THE DESTINY OF WEALTH.
"A man may grow rich by stinting and sparing, but what does he get for his pains? When he says, 'I have earned my rest, now I can live on my savings', he does not know how long it will be before he must die and leave his wealth to others." (Eccus 11:18,19 NEB).

"God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who pleases Him, while to the sinner is given the trouble of gathering and amassing wealth only to hand it over to someone else who pleases God. This too is emptiness and chasing the wind." (Eccles 2:26 NEB).

"'Beware! Be on your guard against greed of every kind, for even when a man has more than enough, his wealth does not give him life.' And he told them this parable: 'There was a rich man whose land yielded heavy crops. He debated with himself: "What am I to do? I have not the space to store my produce. This is what I will do," said he: "I will pull down my storehouses and build them bigger. I will collect in them all my corn and other goods, and then say to myself, 'Man, you have plenty of good things laid by, enough for many years: take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.'" But God said to him, "You fool, this very night you must surrender your life; you have made your money -- who will get it now?" That is how it is with the man who amasses wealth for himself and remains a pauper in the sight of God." (Luke 12:15-21 NEB).

"'Good Master, what must I do to win eternal life?' Jesus said to him... 'One thing you lack: go, sell everything you have, and give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; and come, follow me.' At these words his face fell and he went away with a heavy heart; for he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked round at his disciples and said to them, 'How hard it will be for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!' They were amazed that he should say this, but Jesus insisted, 'Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.'" (From Mark 10:17-25 NEB).

STORE UP TREASURE IN HEAVEN.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth, where it grows rusty and moth-eaten, and thieves break in and steal it. Store up treasure in heaven, where there is no moth and no rust to spoil it, no thieves to break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matt 6:19-21 NEB).

"Do not set your hearts on the Godless world or anything in it. Anyone who loves the world is a stranger to the Father's love. Everything the world affords, all that panders to the appetites or entices the eyes, all the glamour of its life, springs not from the Father but from the Godless world. And that world is passing away with all its allurements, but he who does God's Will stands for evermore." (1 John 2:15-17 NEB).

"All such assets I have written off because of Christ. I would say more: I count everything sheer loss, because all is far outweighed by the gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I did in fact lose everything. I count it so much garbage, for the sake of gaining Christ and finding myself incorporate in him." (From Phil 3:7-9 NEB).